Judaism

Drawing from ancient and contemporary, traditional and non-traditional Jewish wisdom, this book reclaims the idea of grace in Judaism in three ways: it offers a view of God that helps you understand what grace is, why grace is, and how grace manifests in the world; it sets forth a reading of Judaism that is grace-filled, and it challenges you to be embraced and transformed by grace, and to live life as a vehicle for God's grace, thereby fulfilling the promise of being created in God's image and likeness.

A landmark reference, here is an indispensable one-volume guide to the religious traditions, everyday practices, philosophical beliefs, and historical foundations of Judaism -- everything you need to know about being Jewish. In Essential Judaism, George Robinson has created the accessible compendium that he sought when he rediscovered his Jewish roots as an adult. Robinson illuminates the Jewish life cycle at every stage, and lays out many fascinating aspects of Judaism -- the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, the evolution of Hasidism, and much more -- while keeping a firm focus on the different paths to living a good Jewish life in today's world.

In New Orleans, Hanukkah means decorating your door with a menorah made of hominy grits. Latkes in Texas are seasoned with cilantro and cayenne pepper. Children in Cincinnati sing Hanukkah songs and eat oranges and ice cream. While each tradition springs from its own unique set of cultural references, what ties them together is that they all celebrate a holiday that is different in America than it is any place else. For the past two hundred years, American Jews have been transforming the ancient holiday of Hanukkah from a simple occasion into something grand. Each year, as they retell its story and enact its customs, they bring their ever-changing perspectives and desires to its celebration. Providing an attractive alternative to the Christian dominated December, rabbis and lay people alike have addressed contemporary hopes by fashioning an authentically Jewish festival that blossomed in their American world.

In an age when technology is making our world feel increasingly small and far-flung peoples are interacting with each other more regularly than at any other time in history, the common threads running through vastly different civilizations are not only more obvious but more important to our understanding of ourselves as members of the human race. In Hearing the Voice of God: In Search of Prophecy, Mordecai Schreiber explores one of these common threads--the Jewish prophetic tradition. Schreiber examines the roots of the prophetic tradition in Judaism and demonstrates how it has influenced the prophets of later religions, how its tenets have been replicated by major social and political figures of recent centuries, and how it ultimately has the power to define each person's understanding of his or her responsibilities as a member of the human race.

"A wise, uplifting memoir about a rabbi's search for understanding and his discovery of hope and joy after his young son suffered a catastrophic brain-stem stroke that left him a quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator for each breath."--Amazon.com

Elijah ben Solomon, the "Genius of Vilna", was perhaps the best-known and most understudied figure in modern Jewish history. In this book Eliyahu Stern offers a new narrative of Jewish modernity based on Elijah's life and influence. While the experience of Jews in modernity has often been described as a process of Western European secularization - with Jews becoming citizens of Western nation-states, congregants of reformed synagogues, and assimilated members of society - Stern uses Elijah's story to highlight a different theory of modernization for European life. Religious movements such as Hasidism and anti-secular institutions such as the yeshiva emerged from the same democratization of knowledge and privatization of religion that gave rise to secular and universal movements and institutions. Claimed by traditionalists, enlighteners, Zionists, and the Orthodox, Elijah's genius and its afterlife capture an all-embracing interpretation of the modern Jewish experience.

The coming of the Messiah--the promise of redemption--is among Judaism's gifts to the world. But it is a gift about which the world knows so little. It has been overshadowed by Christian belief and teaching, and as a result its Jewish significance has been all but lost. To further complicate matters, Jewish messianic teaching is enthralling, compelling, challenging, exhilarating--yet, up until now, woefully inaccessible. This book will change that.Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman brings together, and to life, this three-thousand-year-old tradition as never before. Rather than simply reviewing the vast body of Jewish messianic literature, she explores an astonishing range of primary and secondary sources, explaining in an informative yet inspirational way these teachings' significance for Jews of the past--and infuses them with new meaning for the modern reader, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

The Kaddish has long been considered to be a special prayer for the dead. It isn't. Those who recite the prayer faithfully for fifty-two Friday nights after the death of a loved one may wonder why there is no place for the name of the deceased in the prayer. This book contains much new information on the Kaddish, including how it was created during the Crusades as an homage to God.

Recent years have seen an increased interest in Jewish life, its culture, and its celebrations. There are many new students of Judaism, often potential converts or members of interfaith families who are seeking to learn more about the religion and its rituals. Intended for the reader who has no prior knowledge about the Jewish holidays as well as the reader who knows the basics about the holidays but wants to understand the holidays on a deeper level, Axelrod's book takes a humorous, lighthearted look at the 11 most important Jewish holidays.